Mayday

 May used to be a month of school vacations, right from childhood. Though hot, we had compensations like a swimming outing in our club, and mangoes, and visits to cousins in slightly cooler places, as we grew up in the hot coal-mining towns of Kothagudem, Ramagundam and Bellampalli. So a trip to Pune was almost like going to a hill station. 

This time around, though, the situation is unreal. There is a forced Work From Home for most. The COVID situation is actually worse than it was last year, at this time. Though we know a lot more about the virus, somehow we seem less prepared for the ferocity with which it is now hitting city after city, even smaller towns.

Hunkering down and waiting for it to pass seems like the only option available, hoping you won't catch it, and getting vaccinated is the other. Of course, double-masking too, and distancing, when you have to go out of the house.

Here's hoping that the nightmare will end soon, and wishing everyone a safe month ahead. 

Impending Vacation

I like my vocation because it entitles you to a vacation, against the norms of corporate behaviour, where anything other than value-added stuff contributing to the bottom line (wonder why it's at the bottom) is frowned upon.

So this animal called a vacation seems to be drawing close, with some prospects of Golf with friends being a part of it. There is a planned trip to Munnar to play and sip some signature tea, I hope. I stayed in Kerala for two years but never got around to going there.

While on the subject, I started playing some Golf on our own cricket ground in IIM Indore today. I intend to train colleagues if any are interested in the game, and maybe students if the numbers are manageable. The ground is large enogh to do some shots with a medium distance iron, and that can give you a good feel for it, and make you feel good that you know some of the great game. Trust the Scots to invent all the highfalutin stuff! They must have been itching to be different from the boring Brits!

Monthly Calendar of Activities 2014

My well thought-out plans for 2014. Subject to interventions by major (non-natural) elements of life.

January- Make plans for summer vacations
February- Increase spending/day to revel in the shorter month.
March- Await the ides of March, if you have read Julius Caesar.
April- Save for the summer vacation you planned earlier.
May- Take the summer vacation

June- Save to compensate for all the extra shopping in May. (There is no free lunch, dinner or anything).
July- Teach
August- Teach
September- Teach and grade
October- Celebrate (own) birthday, and speculate on how many more are left.
November- Buy a new razaai/quilt to prepare for the winter. Maybe a bottle of brandy too, if a severe winter is predicted.
December- Freeze, travel through fog-delayed flights to unexpected destinations, celebrate 30th reunion with MBA classmates, and a family reunion somewhere.

Common to all months- blog on, pay taxes, and be happy!

Singha in Singapore

No, actually that is wrong! No Singha beer in Singapore. That's in Thailand. And Tiger beer is from Singapore. Confused? You bet. Price of beer in Thailand? 50 baht-around 70 rupees. Price of coke in Thailand? More than that.

Indian food? No problem. On a banana leaf? No problem. In a restaurant called The Banana Leaf? Again, no problem. Tiger prawn or Chili crab in a Tamil restaurant? Absolutely. A mall like an Octopus spreading its tentacles across three blocks of Singapore? That's Mustapha, a heady combo of an Indian kirana store and the western mall-mania filling eight streets and four or five levels. Big bazaar was (is?) trying to do this in India.

Disciplined or scared of big brother? I could not figure out what Singaporeans really feel. The discipline is awesome, but scary to someone as used to indiscipline (not just from students) as I am. No doubt, Singapore has a lot of man-made beauty and a stupid combo of a lion and fish- wouldn't a mermaid have been more beautiful to look at? Anyways, many questions and no answers.

To end on a high, Singapore has some beautiful restaurants like Riverwalk Tandoor in Clark Quay (pronounced as Key), great public transport, professional and courteous taxi drivers (again a candidate for the Ripley's Believe it or Not), and lots of money floating around (all the banks have tall offices)- at least until the recession struck. Singapore in one word? Unreal!

To buy a car (as expensive as two wives, according to our guide David who looks like Jackie Chan), there is a quota, and you may have to wait a few years. Hamara Bajaj of 1970 was your consultant, maybe? Another thing an Indian cannot understand. Not enough growth in Singapore population, in spite of incentives. Ripley should create a monument to this. Indians would gladly double the world's population, given half the incentive.